Plant Guide

Amaranth : Opopeo

Tender leaves, beautiful plant

Beautiful, large red, upright flower spikes and bronze-green foliage make this Mexican heirloom a real knockout in the vegetable garden. Tasty leaves are tender when picked young. Easy to grow from seed. From Opopeo, Mexico.

This is an example of the timeline you would see based on your growing conditions.

Amaranth: Grain

Opopeo

Amaranth is a high protein grain that has considerable potential as a garden scale grain crop. It is of particular interest because it can be used immediately, without any hulling, leaching or other processing.

Amaranth is a tropical plant that uses C4 photosynthesis (like corn and sunflower), which makes it particularly efficient in high heat and light intensities. Plant Amaranth in a warm sheltered spot with full sun.

Amaranth grows fast and produces a lot of nutrition, so it's not surprising that it is a fairly hungry plant. It does best on a well-drained and fertile soil, similar to that for corn. If growing for seed, it will require more fertilizer than if you're growing it for leaves.